1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to pets and methods for reuniting lost pets with their owners. More particularly, the invention relates to a nationwide, web-based pet registration, search, and retrieval system.
2. Description of the Prior Art
It has been estimated that millions of pets are lost each year in the U.S. alone. Current methods for reuniting lost pets with their owners are either largely ineffective, too costly, or too complicated. For example, one such method requires a pet owner to purchase a personalized pet tag for their pet having the pet owner's name, address, and phone number printed thereon. A person who finds a pet with such a tag can then read the tag and call the pet's owner. This method is effective as long as the information on the tag is current; however, if the pet owner moves and/or changes phone numbers, the pet tag must be replaced with a more current tag or else it is useless. Furthermore, many tag-based methods require multiple tags, including a rabies vaccination tag, a municipal licensing tag, and the registration tag used by the pet identification system itself.
Other methods for locating lost pets include implanting identifying microchips in the pets or tattooing the pets. Both of these methods are expensive and painful for the pets and do not permit a finder of a pet to search for and contact the pet's owner at any time of day. Moreover, with the microchip methods, the finder of the pet must first determine that the pet has an implanted microchip and then locate a veterinarian or other animal facility that has a microchip scanner that can read the implanted microchip.
Several Internet web sites exist that assist in locating lost pets. These sites use a variety of methods such as posting pictures and descriptions of lost pets and information regarding where pets were lost. Unfortunately, the descriptions and information posted on these sites is often too limited and subjective to permit an exact match between a lost pet and its owner. Moreover, pet owners who lose their pets often do not add descriptions of their lost pets to these sites until days after their pets have been lost. If a person finds a pet and accesses one of the sites before the pet owner adds a description of the lost pet to the site, the finder will be unable to locate the pet owner.
Another limitation in the pet field is lack of compliance with municipal pet licensing laws. Many municipalities require pet licensing based on prerequisite proof of rabies vaccination. Although pet licensing generates some revenue, the costs of administration at the municipal level are significant. Furthermore, compliance is typically low, possibly due to the inconvenience of traveling to the local licensing office or a lack of awareness of the licensing requirement.